ISLAMABAD: The 13th Dawn in Education Spelling Bee regional competition concluded at the Islamabad Club on Saturday.

A total of 190 schools and 1,650 students from the north of the country participated in the competition. Participants were divided into three age groups: nine to 11, 12 to 14 and 15 to 17.

The winners and first and second runners-up will participate in the national championship in Lahore on Nov 14.

Ayesha Kakakhail from EMS Girls Branch was the regional champion in the nine to 11 category. Muskaan Asif from the Joint Staff Public School and College was the first runner-up, and Areeba Ali from the Bahria College Cambridge Section was the second.

In the 12 to 14 category, Eman Wadood from Froebel’s International School Islamabad came first, followed by Amna Salman and Sameen Khan from Super Nova School Islamabad, who came second and third, respectively.

However, the third runner-up in this category – Malaika Hassan from the Beaconhouse School System – will also be allowed to participate in the national championship.

Nirvana Amjad from Khaldunia High School Islamabad came first in the 15 to 17 category. Mariam Khan Wazeer from EMS Girls Branch was the first runner-up, and Zayneb Moin from Khaldunia High School Islamabad was the second.

Ms Amjad told Dawn that her school held a competition to select students to compete in the spelling bee. “We had special sessions to prepare and we held after school sessions. We also prepared from the dictionary,” she said.

Ms Wazeer told Dawn she has been participating in similar competitions for five years.

Although she did not have much time to prepare for this one, she said it was not difficult to participate because she has done so in the past.

Ms Moin has also been participating in spelling bees for several years. “I am 15 years old, so I have another two years to prepare and win the next competitions,” she said.

A teacher from Khaldunia High School, Shaheera Moin, said their training sessions focused on etymology – the study of words – to make it easier for students to understand words and how to spell them.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2017